The Vancouver International Tap Festival Kicks Off Today

The curtain is raising on one of the world's finest dance festivals of its kind: The Vancouver International Tap Festival being held from today, August 28 to 31. Vancouver is now universally recognized as a hotbed of the beloved art form of tap. This is the 15th anniversary of the festival that will be celebrated with an ambitious, innovative program beyond anything presented in the past.

August 29th, 8pm - Two new choreographed works - with close connections to the Vancouver Tap Dance Society - will be staged on at the Norman Rothstein Theatre, 950 W. 41st - Danny Nielsen's "LOVE.Be.Best. Free" and Lisa La Touche's "Hold On." These creations by two of Canada's top talents feature the nation's finest tap dancers.

August 30, 8pm - Headlining the 15th VITF is the talk of the tap world and its most in-demand artist: Michelle Dorrance and her Dorrance Dance (photo attached) at 8pm at the Norman Rothstein Theatre, 950 W.41st. In the limelight after taking the world by storm in acclaimed, sold-out performances, she is the torchbearer of the art form's brilliant past and bright future.

Sunday, August 31st at 5pm - 6pm - As a finale, everyone in Vancouver is invited to experience the tap phenomena themselves at "Tap It Out" when more than 100 dancers take to the 700 block of Granville Street.